News: May 2005 Archives

On the way to collect my visa, the cab's radio was turned to some Chinese radio station with the woman constantly repeating "aspartame" so as to make me think I should go have a look at what the news has been saying about it. Long story short, I'm trusting Wikipedia not to be full of crap, unlike most news outlets. Aspartame is safe. As you'd think, there are more nut-jobs out there than you'd wish to know about, spreading all kinds of FUD about it. But Louis, when he can't get Hansens, will take diet vanilla coke any day. But apparently the reason for the resurgence of idiots is the switching of Coke and Pepsi to Splenda.

The Inq. The original article. The act of aggregation twice. Like a very slow noose. Oh, and the subjective ambivalence of what is "not true", and the rabid frenzy that is journalists. Hardtalk.

For some reason the Economist decided that they're not going to post the photo they used along with this article in the their print edition. I'm sure there are any multitudes of reasons, though perhaps not least the critical response towards the economist of the hosting costs of pictures of hot women.

But being who he is, the august writer who inhabits the role of scriptor for this site (how over-worked it that?) had discovered the whom of which the Economist had been representing, and have found her bio on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders website. The photo in the Economist is rather a bit more striking.

It's interesting that you watch a documentary about Debbie Does Dallas, which features the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders - or perhaps just their uniforms - at the same time this article gets noticed. Really a rather fetching as well as striking picture, as I've mentioned - and which you are welcome to peruse, should you come over. Or visit your news-stand before friday and look at the US section.

Apparently she's a rookie, so not as featured as some of the others, and unfortunate (or not) she shares her name with someone who uses that name as a pseudonym - for an industry in which such things are de rigeur, for particular reasons. I really do wish I could find more of Margo.

So long as he loved his mum. Charming stuff, and free to ether. The things you never think you'll never find a use for, and phrases that stick in your head.

Aside from the fact that I hadn't heard about Wee Kim Wee, let's see what the Economist has for us this time round, in terms of being snarky about their little scratching post. Funny bunch the Economist are (bottom of page):

All for art

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew might be an octogenarian, but his close ties to China's government mean his views on the country remain widely sought. As tensions between Japan and China flared in April, Mr Lee said that China needed to channel its rising power into “cultural revitalisation” rather than “military muscle”. Mr Lee, no slouch in fostering restrictions of all sorts at home, even urged China to relax its tough social strictures in order to “encourage freedom of artistic expression and the free exchange of ideas.” Rumours that China's leader, Hu Jintao, is taking up watercolour painting have yet to be confirmed.

Gambling who gives a fuck.

Well it's wrong in the sense that I have a rather inappropriatedly sized organ of veneration, but other than that, it's good news for everybody that there's been a breakthrough towards Doha getting back on track.

Peter Mandelson isn't made to look as sleazy as he was portrayed in the The Deal. And I suppose you'd really need a congressman from Ohio for this kind of thing - though I might be mistaken, and it's more (post?)industrial than agricultural? But really aren't all US states pretty agricultural, especially the ones in the middle?